#swiss culture

[royalty-nobility]

Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) in Rome

Artist: Possibly Michael Dahl (Swiss, 1659-1743)

Date: 1687-1688

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Trust Collection, United Kingdom

Description

Oil painting on canvas, Queen Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626-1689) in Rome, possibly by Michael Dahl (Stockholm 1656/9 – London 1743), 1685/87. A three-quarter-length portrait of the Queen of Sweden, after her abdication, seated to right, her head turned three-quarters to the left, gazing to left of spectator, wearing a grey and blue satin dress, trimmed with ermine, her left arm resting on a globe which is encircled by a scroll inscribed: NE MI BISOGNA NE MI BASTA [Neither do I need it; nor is it enough for me] expressing her renunciation of worldly things. In the background is a view of St Peter’s, Rome.

[mythological-art]

Bacchus and Ariadne

Artist: Angelica Kauffmann (Swiss, 1741–1807)

Date: 1794

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Trust Collections, United Kingdom

Description

Oil painting on canvas, Bacchus and Ariadne by Angelica Kauffman RA (Chur 1741 – Rome 1807), signed and dated: Angelica Kauffman Pinx: Romae 1794. Bacchus, the god of wine, wearing a leopard skin and carring a thyrsus is being led by Cupid, god of desire, represented as a winged boy. Cupid draws a golden drape aside to reveal Ariadne, in white, reclining at the right. She is weeping and has raised her right hand. The composition has a coastal setting with rockfaces and the blue sea beyond. Companion to 'Euphrosyne complaining to Venus of the Wound caused by Cupid’s Dart' by Angelica Kauffman (NT 608951). An earlier version of the subject, dated 1764 and among first classical pictures by Kauffman is in the Landesmuseum, Bregenz.

The picture was commissioned by Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Lord Berwick (1770-1832). He was in Rome in 1792-93 with the mineralogist and traveller Edward Clarke (1769-1822), who related that 'Lord Berwick is employing Angelica Kauffmann in painting and I am now selecting passages from the poets for her to paint for his house at Attingham'. The subject was taken from Ovid.

[happymiffy]

Artist: Makoto Takahashi

[holidaysincambodia]

Traditional dress of Switzerland

[theswisstimes]

In a recent Swiss vote, Covid measures were extended, and new tax and climate laws were adopted. This decision reflects the country's commitment to combatting the pandemic and addressing environmental concerns. The move demonstrates Switzerland's proactive approach to protecting public health and mitigating climate change.

[swisscomicart]

Discover Elegance Swiss Design Collection | Swiss Comic Art

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of Swiss Comic Art. Experience the elegance of Swiss design collection such as t-shirts, mugs, tote bags etc.

[jillraggett]

Plant of the Day

Saturday 19 October 2024

This cultivar of Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla var. flavescens (Swiss chard) had dramatic red stems. This group of cultivated beets can produce an edible crop all year round and are known for their resistance to bolting (running to flower and seed). These plants were being grown on a ‘hugelkultur’ (hill culture) which is a no-dig raised bed filled with biomass (wood, leaves, cardboard and other compost) and finished with soil. This feature holds moisture, builds fertility and maximises the surface area.

Jill Raggett

[lalalaugenbrot]

outrage in the DACH region: traditional dinner plate is now controversial tiktok trend

[bbg100]

I know I know we have already clowned on this person so much, but like step away from disco elysium brain for a second. The idea that stories have to be uplifting and palatable to all is bad. It closes your eyes to so much art that is vital to understanding people throughout cultural boundaries. Disco Elysium is a complicated, distinctly non American story that makes you step outside of your base assumptions and question the unquestionable. The story does this deliberately. Wanting that story to erode into something simple and idyllic- that is a cruel neutering. I feel like American progressive culture focuses too much on demographic diversity, and not enough on diversity of experiences and history. The need to make a checklist- you play as a disabled, non man! Queer themes! Etc. That takes away your ears towards a wide variety of stories that ARE queer disabled non white etc. Because you are looking for a hamfisted, virtue signaling obviousness, you are missing the intricate stories told by people who don't have your background. Your phd in politically correct American english. By valuing the ability to speak this progressive language, and policing the words used to describe someone's own experiences - you're not listening. You're missing out on art.

So yeah. If you close your ears to disco elysium because it's a grimy detective story with a white man (it's...not set in America but let's just let the concept of whiteness stay for simplicity). Then you're not actually accepting of diversity. You're accepting of the checklist.

[internationalemeteorologie]

Mona Caron

[folkfashion]

German Swiss duo, Switzerland, by Kanton Appenzel

[royalty-nobility]

Emperor Joseph II and Elector Karl Theodor Stroll in the Nymphenburg Palace Gardens

Artist: Johann Baptist Hoechle (Swiss, 1754-1832)

Date: 1793

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria

[blueiscoool]

Bronze Age Women’s Jewelry Hoard Discovered in a Swiss Carrot Field

A set of Bronze Age women’s jewelry was discovered by archaeologists in Güttingen, Thurgau canton, northeastern Switzerland, in a freshly plowed carrot field.

The set, which dates to around 1,500 B.C., includes a necklace made of bronze spiked discs, two spiral finger rings, more than one hundred pinhead-sized amber beads, and spirals made of bronze and gold wire. A rock crystal, a beaver tooth, a perforated bear tooth, a bronze arrowhead, a few lumps of polished iron ore, a small ammonite, and a fossilized shark tooth were among the more unusual items discovered with these opulent items.

An amateur archaeologist named Franz Zahn discovered the treasure for the first time in August of this year. After the carrots were harvested, he was traipsing through the field when he noticed some bronze discs in the disturbed ground. Zahn, an enthusiastic metal detectorist who has found a number of Iron and Bronze Age artifacts in the Güttingen region, recognized the artifacts’ archaeological importance right away and notified the Thurgau Office of Archaeology.

With the farmer’s permission, the team from the Office of Archeology arrived the next day and quickly realized that only block recovery, that is, the removal and transfer of a larger area of earth of around 50x50x50 cm with the not yet visible finds to the laboratory. At the same time, the small excavation made it clear: There was no evidence of a grave. The jewels were probably buried in an organic container or sack.

The soil block was transported to the Frauenfeld conservation laboratory for excavation. Throughout the process, each discovery layer was meticulously documented. A similar find had already been discovered near Etzwilen two years ago.

These are typical “costume jewelry” from the Bronze Age, more precisely the Middle Bronze Age around 1500 BC. In total, 14 bronze discs were discovered. Spiked discs get their name from the round pointed nub in the center, which is surrounded by three concentric circles. Originally, each of the holes on the discs would have been used to thread a string or a leather strap, with spirals threaded in between them to act as spacers. On the site, there were eight larger gold wire spirals and eleven bronze wire spirals.

As finds from graves show, women wore necklaces with these eye-catching discs, with spirals strung between them as spacers. Eleven of these spirals were found in Güttingen. In addition, eight slightly larger spirals made of fine gold wire appeared, which weigh a total of over 21 grams. More than 100 amber beads and two finger rings with double spirals complete the ensemble.

Was there a jewelry box hidden here? Were the bear tooth, the rock crystal and the selected fossils and stones a collection of curiosities or souvenirs from a visit to Klettgau? Or is there even more to it? Objects of this type may have been considered to have a special, protective or healing effect and may have been worn as a kind of amulet.

The set is scheduled to go on display at the Frauenfeld Museum of Archeology next year.

By Leman Altuntaş.

[solcattus]

Portrait of a young Roman woman, 19th century

By Theodor Pelissier

[arc-hus]

Hilti Art Foundation, Vaduz, Liechtenstein - Morger & Dettli